There’s me lecturing you on why you should never believe a thing you read in the tabloid media and then I believe something I read in the tabloid media. Last night the Daily Mail (no surprise there) and the Daily Mirror (slightly more surprising) were both reporting that Hull City footballer Ryan Mason was “fighting for his life” after suffering a fractured skull in the game against Chelsea. I tweeted as much. I could try and make an excuse, like saying that the Daily Mirror is a cut above the bottom end of the market scandal sheets, but it’s still a tabloid. You can put lipstick on a pig, but it’s still a pig.
I have read nothing, apart from tabloid speculation, that suggests that Mason is indeed “fighting for his life”. After having been encouraged to believe one version of events that may not be true, I am more inclined to believe the Hull City line that his condition is “stable” even though the word stable when used in such circumstances can mean all sorts of things. So let’s not speculate.
Many of our newspapers really don’t care, probably don’t even think, about the relatives and friends of Mason who must have been frozen in deep shock by learning the apparent seriousness of Mason’s condition. How would you have felt if you had read what appears to have been wild speculation about a family member or friend? I suspect you’d have been mortified, absolutely devastated. Finding out later, things might not have actually been so bad, would you not have been extremely angry at the irresponsibility of the press?
Enough speculation, by me, by anyone else. Let the man get his treatment, give him time and space in order that he makes a full recovery and then take a deep breath before you believe anything you ever read in the papers. It looks like I fell for a scare story and tweeted irresponsibility. Get well soon, Ryan.
